Writing a Mystery Blog Lesson Plan

Writing a Mystery Using a Blog

Grade Level: 5^th

Materials: Computer with internet access, Mystery Elements worksheet, Writing a Mystery graphic organizer, Writing a Mystery rubric, pencil

Objectives:

W.GN.05.01 write a cohesive narrative piece such as a mystery, tall tale, or historical fiction using time period and setting to enhance the plot; demonstrating roles and functions of heroes, anti-heroes, and narrator; and depicting conflicts and resolutions.

W.PR.05.02 apply a variety of pre-writing strategies for both narrative and informational writing (e.g., graphic organizers such as maps, webs, Venn diagrams) in order to generate, sequence, and structure ideas (e.g., role and relationships of characters, settings, ideas, relationship of theory/evidence, or compare/contrast).

W.PR.05.04 revise drafts based on constructive and specific oral and written responses to writing by identifying sections of the piece to improve organization and flow of ideas (e.g., position/evidence organizational pattern, craft such as titles, leads, endings, and powerful verbs)

W.PS.05.01 exhibit personal style and voice to enhance the written message in both narrative (e.g., personification, humor, element of surprise) and informational writing (e.g., emotional appeal, strong opinion, credible support).

W.AT.05.01 be enthusiastic about writing and learning to write.

On top of incorporating Michigan State’s Grade Level Content Standards (above), I will also be incorporating the use of technology into this lesson. Students will be introduced to using a blog to complete the writing portion of this lesson, in hopes of utilizing our classroom blog to do the vast majority of the writing in our classroom.

Introduction:

This lesson is one of many lessons that I will be teaching within our Mystery Unit. In this lesson, Students be introduced to our classroom blog and will become familiar with using a blog. Students will be reintroduced to the elements of a mystery and the graphic organizer that they will use to write their mystery. Once their thoughts and ideas are written using the graphic organizer, students will use their thoughts and ideas to formulate their own mystery story in the classroom blog for all to seeJ. Students will then read through their classmates blogs and try to solve their peer’s mysteries.

The challenging concepts that my students struggle with will be understanding what a blog is and how to utilize it (regularly) when writing. Of course this will be an ongoing process. The main questions that will be addressed are as follows:

· What is a blog?

· What is a mystery?

· What are the elements of a mystery?

To teach this lesson, I will primarily use the cooperative and active learning teaching strategies. As with most technologies, students learn more when they actually have time to “play” with the technology being introduced. I will allow them to actively engage themselves in the learning process by giving them some time to experiment with our classroom blog. Because most writing assignments will be done utilizing our classroom blog, students will continuously be working cooperatively with one another, eventually leaving answers, feedback, and comments on one another’s blog.

Because this will not be the first time that students are exposed to the elements of a mystery, I will be allowing them to work together to brainstorm their ideas using the graphic organizer that is provided. However, students will be required to write their mystery independently.

The technology that will be integrated into this lesson is the use of a classroom blog. The blog that my students will be using is Class Chatter. My students will be introduced to Class Chatter and time will be allocated so that my students can get acquainted with writing using a blog (we will go into responding to other’s posts at a later time). Though this lesson is completely feasible without the integration, my ultimate goal is for my students to use the blog to post the vast majority of their writing assignments to our classroom blog. By doing this I am hoping to increase my students desire to write, increase classroom participation through peer to peer comments and feedback, allow for students to work anywhere there is internet access and post work for parents and families at home to see and comment on. Using a blog to post students writing also allows my students to have hands on experience with using a blog. My students LOVE to be on the computer. They rarely care what they are doing as long as they are able to use a computer. I really hope they get excited to write when using a computer to do so.

Anticipatory Set:

Prior to beginning my lesson, I will have a prewritten story/letter written to me in my blog.

“Before I introduce you to today’s lesson, I would like to take a minute to read a story to you that a friend of mine wrote.” I will then log onto my blog and project my blog onto all of my student’s computers so that everyone can see what I am doing. I will read the story out loud to the class and ask my students for ideas on how to respond to the story/letter. We will then briefly respond to the story. “What you were just looking at was a story that was written and posted to a blog. Does anyone know what a blog is? A blog is a type of website that lets you publish your thoughts, ideas, work, information, etc. with the world. “I will then show my students our classroom blog. “Our classroom blog is very similar to a regular blog except instead of sharing things with the world, we are sharing the information we post with only our class and families.” I will then teach my students how to log into the classroom blog, how post items on the blog, and how to respond to posts. Students will then be given time to experiment with using the blog.

Teacher Input:

“Now that you are familiar with our classroom blog, let’s go back to our mystery unit. Let’s take a few minutes to refresh our memories as to what the elements are that actually make up a mystery. “I will ask for students to volunteer their answers.

On the overhead, I will have the Elements of a Mystery worksheet displayed. Together we will go through each element and discuss examples.

“Let’s now watch a short mystery to really refresh our minds and together identify the elements within the short film.”(http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=104049&title=Scooby_Doo)

We will view the film as a class. While the film is playing, we will identify each mystery element as we come across it.

We will then discuss what would have happened in the film if certain elements were omitted. I will give examples leaving out specific parts with specific examples.

My students will then be introduced to the Writing a Mystery graphic organizer and rubric (I expect a lot of moans at this point as my students know that they are going to be required to write their own mystery).

Prior to letting my class know that they will be writing and posting their mysteries to our classroom blog, students will be asked to work with their detective agency groups to begin brainstorming ideas for writing their own mystery.

“Let’s all come back together. I hope that we have some really good ideas and are ready to start writing our own mysteries. For this writing assignment we will not be using paper. We are going to be using our classroom blog.”

I will then access our blog and show my students where to begin writing and explain to them how they are able to access the blog at home to continue to write.

Before I allow my students to start working on writing their mystery, I will show students some examples of past mysteries that have been posted to a blog (I will have typed a few from the past). Together we will go over what elements are present and evaluate the mysteries using the rubric that I handed out to each student.

Students will then be given time to start writing their mystery in our classroom blog.

Modifications:

My special education students will primarily work with a partner throughout this lesson. Our computers are also set up so that they are able to “speak” to our students if needed. The “speaking” computers will allow for my students with learning disabilities to have what is written down read to them. My LD students will be able to draw their story plan out, as opposed to using the graphic organizer to write it out.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed upon the completion of their mystery in which all elements of a mystery have been identified and using the provided rubric. Later, they will also be assessed on the feedback and comments given and then finally on their final posting on their mystery.